


Outside

by ericaismeg



Series: 30 Days of Writing [26]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: 30 Days of Sterek, 30 Days of Writing, Accident Prone, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Clumsy Stiles, Derek Goes to College, Derek Takes Care Of Stiles, Fluff, Hurt Stiles, I don't know what to tag this as, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-28
Updated: 2014-05-28
Packaged: 2018-01-26 20:32:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1701605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ericaismeg/pseuds/ericaismeg
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles just kind of barges into Derek's life, and falls down more than one should. That's okay though, because Derek invests in a great First Aid kit, and patches Stiles up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Outside

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm finishing this [writing challenge](http://foxerica.tumblr.com/post/84097258077/felicitygs-spontaneousfangasm).
> 
> Day Twenty Six.
> 
> FOUR DAYS LEFT...what. I am unprepared.
> 
> Word of the day: outside.  
> \--------  
> Firstly, omg, this did not go in the direction it was supposed to. I'm quite disappointed and frustrated about it, so I hope you'll accept my dearest apologies.
> 
> Secondly, it was supposed to be based on this prompt:  
> 
> 
> (Sorry lovely! I tried and I have no idea what happened.)

            Derek can't pinpoint the exact moment he'd accepted that Stiles is one of his closest friends. One day, the loud, talkative kid had sat down at his table in the library. Derek has suspicions that Stiles bribes the librarian to ignore his chatter, because there's no other possible explanation as to why he hadn't been kicked out. All Derek knows is that Stiles is joining him at the table, talking away to him about the most obscured things, and Derek hasn't told him to go away yet. It's kind of a big deal.

            A big enough deal that Derek's sisters coo and tease him over his new friend. Derek doesn't technically go to the college—something that Stiles' finds fascinating—but he likes the atmosphere of the library, and he enjoys learning. He visits the public library often, comfortable with his nerd status among his few friends. He really should be annoyed that Stiles comes and talks to him, but he's not.

            In fact, he's the exact opposite of bothered. He has started to enjoy Stiles' company, started to look forward to it. When Stiles suggests they go get food, because he's starving, Derek agrees. He doesn't tell anyone that he's been struggling to ask Stiles out for food, that the words constantly die down on his lips.

            Somehow, that night at the local pizza joint, _Joe's Pizza_ , they lose track of the hours. It's suddenly midnight when Derek is driving back into the library parking lot so Stiles can get into his Jeep.

            “Derek?” Stiles asks quietly.

            “Yeah.”

            “Thanks for tonight.”

            Derek nods, and then watches as Stiles climbs out of his Camaro. He waits until Stiles is safe in his Jeep, with it running, before he starts to reverse.

            It happens again, and again. It's slow and yet all too fast. Derek finds himself completely comfortable with Stiles—Erica grumbles because it had taken him a few years to be himself around her. Lately though, Derek's noticed a change in the way Stiles has been behaving around him. He doesn't know what it means, and can only hope that Stiles isn't upset with him.

           When Derek is walking with Stiles out to his Jeep from the library, two months into their friendship, he casually says, “I think I'm going to apply to school this year.”

            He glances behind him, hoping to see Stiles' bright smile. Instead, Stiles is tripping over his own two feet and launched mid-air. Derek whips his whole body around, scooping his arms underneath Stiles' armpits.

            Derek only manages to keep Stiles' upper body from crashing to the ground. Stiles mutters, “ _Fuck_ ” as Derek yanks him up.

            “Are you okay?”

            “Yeah,” Stiles mumbles. He starts brushing his legs off, and Derek notices th huge gash on his knee.

            “No you're not!” Derek says. He grabs Stiles' shoulders and says, “Stay _right here_.”

            “Uh, okay,” Stiles mumbles.

            Derek knows his heart is pounding far too hard for a simple scrape on the knee, but he doesn't care. He goes into the back of his Camaro. He grabs an old First Aid kit that Cora had made him buy one day when she'd sprained her wrist. She'd convinced him (as of right now) that it'd be important one day.

            He's rushing back to Stiles, who has taken upon himself to sit down on the parking lot curb. Derek flicks open his kit.

            “Well, aren't you Mr. Prepared?”

            “Boy Scout,” Derek responds, dryly. He fiddles around until he finds the appropriate medical tools. He glances up at Stiles. “This is going to sting.”

            “I know what hydrogen peroxide is like, Derek.” But Derek catches the way he winces as he dabs the scrape carefully. “Oh jesus.”

            “You'll be okay,” Derek murmurs once he's carefully placed a gauze patch on it. He runs his fingers over the taped edges, carefully securing it in place. He meets Stiles' eyes. “You were pretty calm.”

            “Well, first off, I'm twenty one.” Stiles grins though. “Secondly, shit like this happens to me all the time, dude.”

            “It does?” Derek asks, concerned. He frowns at Stiles' knee. “My friend, Erica, she once told me that one of the saddest things you can hear is ' _I'm used to it_ '.”

            Stiles leans forward to pat Derek's shoulder. “I think her knowing that is sad, but dude, it's just a scrape. I mean, I might be more clumsy if you act this caring. It's nice. Will you carry me back to my car?”

            Derek's eyes widened.

            “I'm _joking_!” Stiles says, with a laugh. “But help me up, dude. My ass is numb. You took your sweet time.”

           “I wanted to make sure it was clean,” Derek grumbles. But he closes his First Aid kit and stands up. He helps Stiles up. “Are you sure you're okay?”

            “Yeah,” Stiles says, smiling. He doesn't move his one hand off Derek's forearm though. “I'm proud of you—for wanting to go back to school. What program did you decide on?”

            Derek feels the tension leave him slowly but surely. Stiles has that effect on people. “I think I'm going to go to school for writing.”

            “Oh yeah?” Stiles says, grinning. “That's great! Good for you.”

            “Thanks,” Derek says, ducking his head a little.

            “Are you ever going to tell me why you haven't gone already?” Stiles asks him casually.

            It's the first time that Stiles has acknowledged the question since the first time he asked, three days after he'd sat down with Derek for the first time. Derek says, his voice filled with a tinge of sadness, “My parents died. I had to make sure my sister's got through school.”

            “I _knew_ it!” Stiles says, before his face pales.

            “Are you okay?” Derek asks, his eyes dropping back to Stiles' knee.

            “No, oh my god,” Stiles slaps a hand to his face. “I'm sorry dude, I just got excited because I had a theory that you didn't go to college because you're some kind of hero or something. I was just...uh, excited that I was right? _Because_ it proves you're a great guy.”

            Derek nods, accepting the answer. “Thanks.”

            “Uh, yeah. Okay, I should go home. Rest up,” Stiles says, waving a hand at his knee. “Thanks for fixing me up.”

            “Try not to make it a habit, Stiles.” Derek gives him a smile though. “Otherwise I'm going to be in constant fear that you're gonna get yourself killed leaving the house.”

            “Me and the outside are great buddies, dude.” Stiles beams. “Have a good night?”

            “Yeah, you too.”

           

♚♞♚♞♚♞ **  
**

            A few weeks pass by. In these weeks, Stiles helps Derek apply for school. He just makes the deadline and Derek's holding four letters in his hand. He decides he doesn't want to open it alone (or with his sisters, because Stiles is the only one he told about applying to college).

            He doesn't have Stiles' cell phone number, because it just hadn't come up yet, and they never meet at the library on Fridays. However, everyone knows where the Sheriff lives, and it was very easy to subtly get the information out of his sisters.

            When he pulls in, he spots Stiles on a ladder against the side of the house. It's very obvious that Stiles has headphones in because he's bobbing his head to a beat. Derek shuts his car door a bit harder than usual, in hopes to get Stiles' attention. It fails miserably.

            Stiles throws some other leaves out of the eavestroughs and hums something to himself as they fall. Derek taps the side of Stiles' ladder, causing him to jump.

            He bends his head down and gives Derek a bright smile.

            “Yo!”

            Then Stiles pulls out his headphones, and Derek greets him with, “Hey. I have some letters from the colleges.”

            “Shut up, that's awesome! Oh! Did you want to open them with me?” Stiles asks, eyes wide, mouth propped open a little. Derek nods, and Stiles grins. “Give me a minute and we can open them inside.”

            “Sounds great. So how are you?”

            “I'm alright. I offered to do some house work for my dad, obviously, but I've been enjoying myself. I like being outside.”

            “That's great—” If Derek doesn't say it now, he'll never say it. “If I get into Sacramento, would you consider letting me move in with you and Scott?”

            Stiles whips around on the ladder, apparently forgetting that he's _on a ladder_ He loses his footing and suddenly Derek's heart is stopping because Stiles is falling.

            He manages to catch Stiles, but they both fly backwards onto the ground. “Oof!”

            “Oh my god, Derek, are you okay?!” Stiles yells, scrambling to get off him. Derek gives him a smile of disbelief and then Stiles' mouth jumps open. “Oh my god, dude, you're bleeding!”

            Derek frowns, and sits up now that Stiles is completely off him. He looks down at the sleeve of his shirt, and sees the blood. When he pushes it up though, his skin is dry. Derek looks over at Stiles and sighs. “Stiles, _you're_ bleeding.”

            “I...oh.” Stiles looks at his arm to inspect it. Then his eyes widen and he focuses his attention on Derek. “That's a lot of blood. More than I, uh, was expecting. Must have scraped it against a nail. Um.”

            “I got you,” Derek tells him. “C'mon, let's go inside. Do you have a First Aid kit?”

            “We have six. They're in the upstairs bathroom.”

            Derek follows Stiles. He points to the cupboard as he sits on the closed toilet, and Derek pulls a First Aid kit out. He smiles. “It really is a wonder that people let you outside.”

            “ _Shut up_ and save my life, would you?”

            Derek chuckles, but goes about cleaning up Stiles' cut. He talks to him quietly, hoping to soothe his nerves. It seems to work best when he mentions the possibly of living with him again.

            “It'll be so great,” Stiles tells him. “I don't mind being home for the summer, but it'd be really nice to have a third roommate. I mean, I love Scott, but the dude's gone a lot with his girlfriend.”

            “So you'd be okay with it?” Derek asks.

            “Yeah. But first, we gotta make sure Mr. Smarty Pants got in first,” Stiles says. When Derek pulls his letters out of his back pocket, Stiles grins.

            He sits on the edge of the bathtub. Derek doesn't care when or how they do this, he just knows that he wants Stiles to be with him. Strange for only knowing him for three months. Derek shifts on his feet and rips the envelope of the most important one—Stiles' school.

 

**_Congratulations! You have been accepted to the Creative Novel Writing program!_ **

 

            “I got in.”

            “What?” Stiles breathes. Then with much more volume, “You got in? That's awesome, dude! I knew you could!”

            “I got in,” Derek repeats again.

            “Let's celebrate!”

            Derek gives Stiles an amused expression. “You sure you want to celebrate with that cut of yours? I feel like you'll only hurt yourself more.”

            “Hey now, in an _inside_ environment, I should be good.” Stiles beams. “Let's celebrate, yeah?”

            “Sure.”

 

♚♞♚♞♚♞

 

            They decide on dinner the following night. Derek invites Erica, Boyd, and Isaac. Stiles asks if he can invite some of his friends too. “ _It's the true test of a friendship to see how it survives in the wild, you know_ ,” Stiles had told him with more seriousness than if someone had told Derek that he was fired from the bakery he works at. He'd agreed, because the more the merrier (something Erica had often told him whenever she wanted to hold a party).

            Stiles decides he's going to do all of the cooking with his friend, Allison. Apparently, she's the only one of his friends that's even remotely adept at it. Derek suggests to Boyd on the way over that he could help if he wanted, since Boyd enjoys cooking.

            Derek's noticed the way that the three of them become a little power team. They anticipate each other's needs without speaking a single word. He's been watching them (Stiles mainly) for most of the evening so far. He can't help it.

            Stiles had stormed into Derek's life. He'd fallen (twice now) into Derek's arms. Both times had happened so quickly that Derek hadn't had a chance to enjoy how Stiles had felt against him.

            “And that's when I said, ' _I'm pretty sure that's your car over there_ ',” Lydia says, finishing her story. It's the punchline, and Derek remembers to laugh. Erica's in the middle of a giggle fit, and Isaac even looks amused.

            Derek doesn't look at Lydia, even though he's laughing with her, because he notices that Stiles is watching him.

            He sees it happening, but once again, it happens too fast before he can prevent it. Stiles is tilting his pot of water and pasta into the sink to strain it—only he misses the sink. By a lot.

            He screams in surprise and probably pain. Derek's rushing over. He takes the pot from Stiles' hands and shoves it onto the counter.

            “C'mon,” he says. He's trying to lead Stiles out of the kitchen, but Stiles whimpers. Derek bends down and scoops him up. Stiles doesn't seem to think it's weird, but Derek feels the curious gazes of Erica, Boyd, Isaac, Scott, Allison, and Lydia. He doesn't care.

            He's carrying Stiles up to the bathroom. Derek carefully helps Stiles stand up.

            “Jesus, this _burns_.”

            “No fucking shit,” Derek says, shaking his head. He's turning cold water on in the shower. “Take your pants off. You need cold water _now_.”

            Stiles doesn't hesitate. He lets Derek rush him into the shower. The second the water hits him though, he's reaching out for Derek who holds him. “Motherfucker. I just wasn't paying attention. But ha, you  _carried_ me. I think I win something.”

            Derek eyes Stiles' thighs (to assess the burns, of course). He shakes his head, ignoring his joke. There are more important things to be concerned about, like his burns. If his face looks a little like a concerned puppy dog, Derek decides he can't be held responsible when Stiles' thighs are red. “Stiles, how are you feeling right now?”

            “I'm,” Stiles swallows. “Much better. Don't uh, leave though.”

            “As if,” Derek says, shaking his head. He lifts his eyes to meet Stiles. “And you said you're okay indoors. What were you thinking?”

            Stiles chokes out a laugh, and that's when Derek realizes just how painful the boiling water was (not that he had a single doubt about it being painful). Derek shuffles forward, and gets into the shower beside Stiles fully-clothed.

            It's only so he can help Stiles stand up better, only to help him ease the pressure he's putting on his leg. That's all.

            When Stiles turns his head to look at Derek though, he knows he's a goner.  _That's not all_.

            “Thanks.”

            “Yeah,” Derek whispers, stepping closer to Stiles. “I'll get the First Aid kit in a minute.”

            “Please.”

 

♚♞♚♞♚♞

 

            Derek's listening to Laura complain about their lack of food in the fridge, so he takes her with him to the grocery store. He tells her to buy whatever she wants, if it means that she lets up. She seems quite pleased with this.

           They're standing in front of the seafood display, while she's debating about what she wants to get. The guy behind the counter is eyeing her though, so Derek steps instinctively closer to her. He doesn't like the way he's leering. His sister is not someone to be _leered_ at.

            “How's it going with your boyfriend?” Laura asks after she points to something. Derek's not paying any attention. He doesn't care for seafood.

            “He's not my boyfriend,” Derek mumbles. “I wish you guys would stop calling him that. He's my friend.”

            Laura snorts. “Okay, but you definitely have a crush on him, little brother.”

            Derek raises his eyebrows. “And if I do?”

            She freezes. “ _Whoa_ , Derek. I don't think I've ever heard you to admitting something like that. Even when you liked Paige, you never...is it serious?”

            “I don't know, Laur. I think we're moving in together—with Scott—when I, um, go to school in September.”

            “You're _what_?” Laura shrieks.

            Yeah, okay, so maybe Derek's timing could've been better. He hadn't known what to say though. He didn't want his sisters to think he was abandoning them.

            Before he can explain anything else though, a movement catches his eyes. He watches as Stiles backs up into a display of K.D. Boxes that were on sale. Derek cringes, as he watches Stiles' cart catch on a box and the entire display comes crashing down.

            Then he's rushing forward. Damn this kid and his tendencies to get himself in trouble.

            Derek's pushing some boxes off of Stiles, who had fallen in the avalanche. “You okay?”

            “I think so,” Stiles mumbles. “I didn't mean to...”

            “Stiles,” Derek says, helping him up. “I'm starting to expect you to hurt yourself. But man, what if that had been a display of cans? I think you're more dangerous to yourself inside than outside.”

            Stiles snorts, and rubs his forehead. He pulls his hand away to show some blood.

            Derek sighs. One of the workers from the store rush over and asks if everyone's okay. Derek asks for a Band-Aid and the worker is gone a second later.

            “I didn't...”

            “Derek,” Laura says suddenly beside him. Or at least, Derek's suddenly noticing her. “Introduce me.”

            “.Laura, this is Stiles—accident prone extraordinaire—and Stiles, this is my nosey sister, Laura. You'll like her.” Derek glances between them. Laura's beaming at Stiles, as though she's pleased to meet him. She's probably sizing him up to tell Cora everything she can remember. Stiles' face is beat red when he holds out a hand to shake hers. He glances up at Derek.

           “I thought this was your ex-girlfriend. Jennifer. You said she had long brown hair,” Stiles mumbles.

            Derek's not sure why Stiles just admitted that—maybe as an explanation as to why Stiles had been backing up away from them? But that's when the worker comes back with a Band-Aid, and Derek's brushing Stiles' slightly-too-long hair away from his cut. He carefully puts the Band-Aid over his cut.

            “You need to live in a bubble,” Derek mumbles.

            Stiles snorts. “You don't think I could hurt myself in one of those? Just think about one of those hills outside. I'd be a goner.”

            Derek laughs, despite himself. He lets his fingertips trail down the side of Stiles' face. The manager, arriving to the scene, clears her throat. Stiles looks ashamed, and pleased, as he apologizes and offers her a monetary gift.

            “You look adorable with your Band-Aid on your forehead. Doesn't he, Derek?” Laura says when they're walking out of the grocery store twenty minutes later.

            “He does,” Derek says, and hopes that Stiles doesn't catch the hitch in his voice. Stiles just gives him the shyest (and most adorable) smile he's ever seen.

 

♚♞♚♞♚♞

 

            “You should have seen them!” Laura says for the millionth time four days later. Cora beams and asks her to tell her the story again. Derek closes his eyes. What are sisters good for except to annoy the shit out of him? Laura gets her dreamy tone on as she says, “They just forgot the rest of the world was there. It was so romantic.”

            “I can't believe that Derek forgot the world existed for a minute. He's always glaring it down,” Cora teases.

            “Shut up, both of you. I'm going to go water the flowers, since _someone_ doesn't take care of the garden she so desperately wanted last year,” Derek says, pointing his finger at Laura. She just snorts.

            “We both knew I'd get bored of it,” Laura answers.

            _Ugh, sisters_. Derek steps out into the warm summer day. He rubs the back of his neck before he heads towards the hose.

            He can't say how long he's been watering the flowers—he'd built a large garden for Miss. Bores Too Easily—but when he hears a loud crash, his mind snaps back to reality.

            And there, at the ditch of his front lawn, he spies Stiles, a bike, and a mailbox that's no longer standing.

            _How_?

            Derek rubs his hand over his forehead and heads over. When he gets into earshot, he says, “What on earth happened?”

            Stiles groans loudly, holding his stomach. Derek drops to the ground beside him and starts tugging up his shirt. Stiles holds it down. “No, I'm fine. When I realized I was headed for your mailbox, I tried to jump off my bike. I was two seconds too late, so it just scraped my tummy.”

            “No internal bleeding?” Derek asks.

            “No,” Stiles mumbles. He looks up at Derek. “You know, I'm starting to think it doesn't matter if I'm inside or outside. I think it's _you_.”

            “What's me?” Derek asks, confused.

            “I think I forget how to function around you. God, I was doing so fine on my bike. But you're _shirtless_.”

            “I...what?”

            “You're _shirtless_ ,” Stiles mumbles. He rips some grass out and throws it at Derek's face. It falls before it makes it though. “How is a guy supposed to bike when you're shirtless.”

            Derek smiles, and asks, “Are you okay?”

            “Yeah,” Stiles groans as he rolls over to put his face into the grass. There's a pause and then Derek hears the words, “I think I broke your mailbox though.”

            Derek laughs, harder than he would expect, and then tries to help Stiles up. They end up with Stiles arm around Derek's neck, and Derek's arm around his waist.

            “I invested in a fancier First Aid kit.”

            “Just for me?” Stiles asks, grinning. “That's so sweet of you, Hale.”

            “Yeah, well, I figured if we're living together next month...”

            “I came to tell you! Scott found the _best_ house ever. It has five bedrooms, so we're thinking we can ask Isaac and Boyd to room with us too!” Stiles tells him.

            Derek raises his eyebrows. “That'd be nice. Residence is expensive.”

            “ _Exactly_ ,” Stiles says, poking a finger into Derek's chest. Derek laughs and opens the front door.

            Quietly he asks, “You like me shirtless?”

            Stiles only smirks as Laura and Cora pounce on him. Derek waves them away, repeating “ _Move, he's hurt, I need to get him the First Aid_ ” but his sisters ignore him. They just fawn over Stiles, who seems to be enjoying their company.

            Derek realizes that Stiles doesn't seem to need the First Aid kit after all.

 

♚♞♚♞♚♞

 

            Derek can't stand living with Stiles. It's driving him crazy. All he wants to do is demand to know if their friendship could be _more_ but he doesn't want to push him. He doesn't want to rush it, he doesn't want to fuck it up...basically, he doesn't want to get rejected and lose Stiles' friendship in the process. His sisters swear up and down that Stiles is into him, but Derek's not sure.

            Boyd has said that Stiles has seemed interested, but then again, even Boyd acknowledges it's difficult to tell when Stiles is being serious and when he's teasing sometimes. Derek wants to storm upstairs and demand to know.

            Instead, he paces in the living room.

            It's been four months, and they'd grown closer than Derek had expected. They curl up on the couch together to watch movies, and Stiles has _no problems_ throwing his legs and arms everywhere. They cooked dinner together some nights, and they'd go out bowling on others.

            Sometimes they even studied together.

            Sometimes when they studied together, they'd lock feet.

            Sometimes when they studied together, they'd lock feet, _and_ stare at each other for a few minutes here and there as little breaks.

            It's enough to drive a guy mad.

            Derek remembers what his life was like before Stiles. _Boring_. He was boring. He was a guy who hadn't gone to college so he could get his sisters' through. Cora's in her last year now. Derek had saved up enough from _Mama's Bakery_ that he knew he could afford the change in his own life.

            Who had inspired that change though? Stiles.

            Who makes him check out First Aid kit sales? Stiles.

            Who does he think of in the morning, randomly during his day, whenever he sees something amusing, and before he goes to bed? Yeah. Derek gets it. It's time to see if this could develop into something else. The not-knowing is starting to get on his nerves.

            When Stiles comes out of his bedroom upstairs and starts walking down the hall, it occurs to Derek that Stiles has no idea he's not home alone. He's usually by himself on Thursday mornings, but Derek's class had been cancelled.

            It'd definitely given him time to think.

            Stiles gets half way down the staircase when he spots Derek. He lets out a scream of surprise, and unsurprisingly, tumbles forward. His shoulder hitting the railing and launching him around in a 180 as he flies backwards. Derek catches him, but as usual, the impact of Stiles' body flings them both down to the ground.

            “Oh god,” Stiles groans. He shifts so that he can face Derek. “Are you okay, dude?”

            “Yeah, you?”

            “Yeah.” Stiles gives him a cheeky smile. “We've got to stop meeting like this.        

            “I dunno, Stiles. I'm getting used to it,” Derek tells him, but he's smiling. God, Stiles looks _good_ this close.

            “What?” Stiles breathes.

            “I'm getting used to it,” Derek repeats. He swallows hard and then takes the bravest step he's done yet. He brushes his hand against Stiles' cheek. There's no cut there, there's no reason to be touching his face, yet he does it anyway. “I'm getting used to you in my arms, Stiles. I'm not sure I want it to end.”

            Stiles inhales sharply and then exhales loudly. “Wow. Okay, wow. Derek, I didn't realize...I mean, dude.”

            “Use your words,” Derek says, chuckling.

            “What are you saying?” Stiles asks.

            “I think there is something between us.”

            “You think?” Stiles snorts. His hand comes up to Derek's scruff though. “I'm a miserable excuse for subtle.”

            Derek raises his eyebrows. “Did I miss something?”

            “I told you _months_ ago. I can't function around you.” Stiles shakes his head. “How have you not gotten that yet? I can't look at you shirtless outside, because I _break your mailbox_.”

            “I have no idea how you fumble through the way you do,” Derek admits. “But I think it's...uh, cute.”

            “Cute.”

            “Yes.”

            “I'll take cute,” Stiles answers, grinning.

            “Never let it be said that you enter a person's life the normal way,” Derek mumbles, with a laugh. “You talked, stalked, barged in, and fell everywhere. It's an interesting tactic.”

            “Don't forget I burned myself too,” Stiles says, laughing. “I feel like that was a crucial moment for us.”

            Derek rolls his eyes. “I'll never understand how you manage to go outside on a daily basis and not get yourself killed.”

            “Please, you love it,” Stiles says as he rolls off Derek, getting ready to stand up. “How else am I going to get to touch you?”

            “You could just ask,” Derek says. He laughs hard at Stiles' stunned expression. “No need to almost kill yourself.”

            “Good to know, but I kinda like you making me all better.”

            “Yeah? Are you hurt anywhere right now? That was a pretty rough fall, Stiles,” Derek says as he leans in closer to Stiles.

            “Might need you to kiss me and make it better.”

**Author's Note:**

> FIRSTLY: I'm pretty sure I tried too hard to connect this fic with the word "outside" so uh, sorry about that. SECONDLY: to whoever gave me the prompt, I love you, and I know this is so not what you wanted. I just started writing and this is what came out, and I'm pretty disappointed tbh. THIRDLY: I'm going to try better for tomorrow. I know, I know. I shouldn't be too hard on myself, but that's difficult when the entire time you're writing, you keep thinking to yourself _no, no, no, what is happening, okay fuck it_.
> 
> · **If you're following the series, please drop by[here](http://foxerica.tumblr.com/talktome) and let me know if you haven't already! I want to make sure I can thank as many people as possible for your support and wonderfulness for following this series. (Especially guests without ao3 accounts - give me a real/fake name and let me add you to my list please!)** If you have sent me a message, it has most likely been answered. If you were anonymous, go [here](http://foxerica.tumblr.com/tagged/anonymous) and you should be able to find my answer (trust me, I'm replying to them all - if it's not there yet, it will be).  
>  · I posted a SECOND sneak peek of my fic, Just the Same, that will be posted every Monday and Thursday starting June 2nd, 2014. (There are seven parts in total). Go [here](http://foxerica.tumblr.com/post/86068765337/below-the-read-more-you-will-find-a-sneak-peek) to see the first sneak peek and [here](http://foxerica.tumblr.com/post/86638185582/30-days-of-writing-skipping-todays-fic) for the second. (Also I will so not be offended if you choose not to follow that story. I'm grateful to everyone who's been following this one though!)  
> · [tumblr](http://www.foxerica.tumblr.com)  
> · YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN AMAZING and I love you all.


End file.
